The revelation in January that Savannah's acting city manager, Rochelle Small-Toney, was denied a personal bond for $50,000 has prompted at least a brief police investigation into who leaked the information to the public.

Chief Willie Lovett confirmed the information, including reports that the possibility of taking a polygraph test was discussed.

Several members of City Council learned after the fact that an investigation was under way.

When asked what he knew, Alderman Tony Thomas responded:

"It's bothersome. If the mode of operation is threats of losing your job and threats of polygraph, then we're in really bad shape at City Hall," he said. "If our senior staff is working under those types of conditions, we have to ask ourselves what's going on."

Bell said Riley talked to her last week, but he didn't mention a polygraph. In her 38 years with the city, she said, she could not recall ever being interviewed by an internal affairs officer.

Bell, who is taking early retirement and considering a run for an at-large post on City Council, said she wasn't upset by the inquiry.

"I think you're making too big a deal out of it," she said.

Robinson would not comment for this story.

Calling for investigation

Mayor Otis Johnson and Alderman Van Johnson called for investigations into the leak after Small-Toney's bond situation became public in January, with the alderman saying he believed fellow council members would support an inquiry by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

City officials say they hadn't realized until late last year that Small-Toney needed a bond. City charter calls for the city manager to be bonded at $50,000. Former City Manager Michael Brown went above that requirement and was bonded at $1 million.

On Jan. 11, Bell was informed by a Wells Fargo official that the company was declining to bond Small-Toney, according to city documents. The reason was deemed confidential, and neither then nor now has a specific reason been given by Small-Toney or the city.

News of the refusal spread throughout the business community by the next morning, but most on City Council hadn't learned of the issue until the Jan. 13 afternoon council meeting.

At a Jan. 14 news conference, the mayor made clear his interest in an investigation. He was the first to say publicly that her personal credit information, not just her bonding status, had been leaked.

He indicated if that person could be identified, it would lead to termination.

"We really don't need that person among us," he said.

Too many people knew

The GBI wasn't asked to investigate and likely wouldn't have done so, said Micah Ward, special agent in charge of the Statesboro field office, which includes Savannah.

The GBI can be asked to investigate by a district attorney, a law enforcement agency or the mayor of a city, Ward said.

Lovett anticipated the GBI would decline to investigate, so he approved a local inquiry instead. Riley soon reported to Lovett that numerous people other than Robinson and Bell knew about the acting city manager's bond difficulties.

Riley asked the chief how he wanted to proceed, and Lovett called a halt to the inquiry.

"There's just no way that we're going to find out with the number of people who knew," he said.

Asked at the Feb. 10 council meeting for an update on the GBI investigation, the mayor responded he had decided to let it drop.

"It's water under the bridge," he said.

Under the separation of powers in Savannah's city government, neither the mayor nor any council member is supposed to give orders, directly or indirectly, to any employee under the authority of the city manager, including the police chief.

In day-to-day operations, department staff often end up supplying information directly to the mayor or to aldermen, often in response to constituent's complaints.

Public information request

On Wednesday, the Savannah Morning News submitted a public records request to Bret Bell, the city's director of public information. It requested documents for any investigative findings, as well as any memos, e-mails or written directives that called for the investigation.

The request also asked for responses to four questions, including who directed the police department to conduct an internal affairs investigation.

Bell responded that the request was being forwarded to the mayor's office.

Friday afternoon, Bell responded that, per the mayor and acting city manager, the only document related to the matter was being provided.

No response to any of the four questions was provided. Under public records law, officials are not required to provide verbal answers, only documents.

The mayor has stopped responding to phone calls left at his office and on his cell phone that relate to the city manager search.

The lone document supplied is a Jan. 24 memo from Robinson to the mayor. It is in response, she wrote, to his request about "the chain of custody."

Robinson detailed how Carol Bell presented the letter of bond denial to her and how that letter was delivered Jan. 12 in a sealed envelope to Small-Toney. Robinson later faxed a copy to City Attorney James Blackburn, at his request.

"Since that time, no one in my office has had access to the letter as it has remained in a locked file cabinet," Robinson wrote to the mayor.

She also supplied a copy of the letter to the Savannah Morning News in response to an open records request.

The letter, from Wells Fargo, is two sentences long. It states Small-Toney is being denied a bond, and concludes: "Due to the confidentiality of the information, she will receive a letter from The Hartford outlining the steps she can take to address the issues."

Small-Toney has obtained a $50,000 bond and also has been covered under the city's $1 million blanket bond for all employees. She has not received a separate bond in her own name.

Dana Braun, a former alderman and an attorney, is watching City Hall from the outside, but takes issue with how the local government is functioning and the decision to investigate.

"There is no criminal violation," he said. "The document that was released is clearly a public record. The release of that is not the type of behavior that would call for a police investigation. It's not criminal, period."

City ordinanceSection 3-115 instructs that the mayor and aldermen shall deal solely through the city manager, and concludes:"...no orders shall be given by the Mayor or any Aldermen to any subordinates of the city manager either publicly or privately, directly or indirectly."

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An investigation of this type is beyond the normal scope of a PD's Internal Affairs investigatory procedures. A PD's Internal Affairs handles investigations that are INTERNAL to the specific law enforcement agency.

Laws were not broken with the leak of RST's lack of being eligible for bonding, yet now the taxpayers have footed the bill for the waste of SCMPD's Internal Affairs resources.

WHO requested this investigation and why would Otis and Van's fellow NFBPA member Lovett think this warranted a Police investigation, let alone Internal Affairs?

It's telling that Bret Bell would forward the SMN request for documents to Otis. There should not be any need for any request to be forwarded to the Mayor, regardless of who that is.

Maybe this has been published before and I missed it, but this is the first time I've read that Otis mentioned RST's personal credit information had been leaked. HELLO SAVANNAH. NOW WE KNOW THE RUMORS ARE TRUE!

Otis is the ultimate example of why term limits are necessary! What a dreadful place Savannah would be if Otis was to have a third term. He thinks he's the Dictator of Savannah and sadly he apparently has a group of Council members that think they need to follow his every command.

Hopefully Savannah will have a major overhaul with the next election and all of Otis' group of puppets will be gone along with him.

You're right. The letter could have been altered. We cannot trust anything coming from City Hall.

Since the reason for denial is based on her credit, I can accept that the City wasn't told the details and a letter was sent to RST. When someone is denied credit, the company to which they applied to and ultimately turns them down based on a credit report, cannot release the details of why they turned them down. The applicant is referred to the credit bureau which provided the information. Consumer laws. I know this from a previous job.

I have a friend in the business of this type of bonding. I'll ask about this.

Have you heard the reason for her inability to be bonded? I have and she could have prevented it.

If someone leaked information against a PUBLIC servant and that information was relevant in determining the integrity or lack thereof or any possible cronyism involved then who cares how the leak happened? The PUBLIC needs to know that their city government does their day to day operations with reliable/trustworthy people. PUBLIC servants are there for the PUBLIC and therefore there should be transparency in every detail in order to establish confidence.

It's still unclear who either ordered or initiated this investigation. Did the Mayor or Acting City Manager order it, or did Chief Lovett take it upon himself because he heard the Mayor and Alderman Johnson's wishful thinking about wanting GBI to do it?

No matter what, it was a bad call all around.

Internal Affairs has the ability to use a lot a tools to investigate members of the police force, but from what I can gather may not use many of these tools when investigating civilians. It sounds like this Hank Riley was throwing his weight around if he even mentioned polygraphs.

Singling out two employees in what proved to be a leaking sieve of information seems unfair, but certainly represents the new culture of fear and intimidation we're all hearing about at City Hall under Acting City Manager Rochell Small-Toney.

I'd like to know a little more on who ordered this, and why, particularly when I can find no history of any breach of confidentiality in the past from either of the departments or employees under investigation.

Whirl_pool said "Otis mentioned RST's personal credit information had been leaked. HELLO SAVANNAH. NOW WE KNOW THE RUMORS ARE TRUE!"

I had the same thought when I read otis' quote. Right there otis told us her bonding issue was a problem with her personal credit. Now I sure don't want someone in charge of a multi-million dollar budget if they can't manage their personal finances; especially in light of the fact that she has been earning a hefty salary for many years now.

Whirl_Pool is right, consumer laws won't allow the bank/insurance company reveal the reason for the denial on the notice but instead refer the applicant to an agency.

Based on personal experience credit issued usually does not determine bond eligibility. Judgments do because they involve the courts or agencies of the state to determine monetary liability. You see this often with child support, IRS or other civil debts.

In GA a new employee list must be sent to the state each quarter by their employer. They are very quick to find such judgments and have a wage garnishment order subpoenaed to the employer. Why? Probably because the debtor has proved not to be responsible enough to make timely payments on their own. This said, judgments are something a bonding insurance company uses to determine risk.

Said the GBI..... Otis Johnson and Alderman Van Johnson should have been the objects of this investigation for allowing the un-bonded individual hold the position to begin with. You two clowns need to take your medicine like men..... LOL, that's funny as hell in itself right there :)

Hello..."so many people knew" that they couldn't determine who leaked the info! Yet King Otis and Jesters DIDN'T KNOW about the bond issue? I guess this little witch hunt did shine the light on a very BIG piece of info. King Otis caught LYING again...imagine that.

Blatant in-your-face racism. So why is it acceptable? The KKK is not acceptable. So why is the 'n word' taboo to all but negroes, who can loudly and openly use the word at will. Honky, cracker, redneck- totally acceptable. Use at will without repercussion.

I am sick of it, and from what I see so are many others. "Minority" is always used to reference anything regarding negro. Rarely applied to Asian, Hispanic, native American, etc. Who's the real racists in this country?

One thing that should not be overlooked is that Carolyn Bell filed a discrimination claim against Small-Toney with the EEOC alleging that she was passed over for promotion based on her race. So it is ironic that damaging information regarding RST was dropped into Bell's hands.

However, if it was suspected that Bell leaked the info, then there would be reason to back off so as not to get a second charge of retaliation. Even though the original claim might get dismissed for lack of probable cause, a retaliation claim is much harder to defend against and easier to make a prima facie case.

You are absolutely correct. It has somehow become politically correct to be racist if you are a minority as evidenced by the mayor and his cronies. Call them out on it. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Step-down-Mr-Mayor/147022852021861

TANF website. "There was little change in the racial composition of TANF families. Three of five TANF families were members of minority races or ethnic groups. Black families comprised 37 percent of TANF families, white families comprised 36 percent of the families and Hispanic families comprised 23 percent of TANF families. The average age of TANF children averaged about 7.7 years." While i disagree with dawgs ramblings, I disagree with your statements made based on generalizations. Get your facts straight.

What I find ironic is that Carol Bell would charge RST with racial discrimination. It's a perfect example of racial intimidation via government proxy gone berserk. You didn't pick me, therefore you are a racist. (even if you are the same race)

He reminds me of J.Edgar Hoover- investigating the public for non criminal issues. This is way outside the scope of his and SCMPD duties. Now the GBI has an issue to look into- Violation of Oath of Office- from the mayor, aldermen and now chief of police!

...it was safe to go back in the water! Even if there was criminal culpability, not to worry. There's no one left in Larry Chisolm's office to prosecute the case. Aaaaahhh, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Just wanted to point out the black presence at Georgia Southern University, the black presence that brought William Ayers, the same black presence that brought Angela Davis to that campus two weeks ago.
I guess this group of blacks is one that you are proud of? I know it shamed the college as well as the city of Statesboro.

For all of those above that believe Ms Rochelle Small-Toney should not be trusted with the public's money when she has trouble handling her own money, I agree. The only thing that would be more stupid would be to put someone into a higher office where a lot more of the public's money is at stake and they couldn't handle their own financial affairs either. Why does the name Nathan Deal keep popping up in my mind right now?

Like it or not the principal is the same, public office, over-sight of public funds and trouble with their own financial affairs. It has always amazed me when good moral Christians can look the other way when it suits them.

There is a big difference. The governor is elected by popular vote from a small selection of choices.

The CM is an employee that is hired by elected officials whose duty to the public is to recruit a manager with the best qualifications and experience. The criteria for selection as admitted publically by the bigot majority's leader is black female. However, their candidate cannot even meet minimum conditions as specified for the job, much less having the best overall demonstrated management skills of the skewed and biased candidate base. No matter how they stacked the deck, they still came up with a loser.

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM PEOPLE? WHAT IS ALL THE FUSS ABOUT? GET OVER IT! THE MAYOR AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE IN THE MAJORITY, LET THEM DO WHAT THEY WERE ELECTED TO DO. WE ARE THE ONES THAT VOTED THEM INTO OFFICE. I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT NONE OF THEM SECONDED CLIFTON JONES WHEN HE MADE THE NOMINATION FOR ROCHELLE SMALLS TONEY TO BE THE CITY MANAGER. I FIND IT VERY INTERESTING THAT IT IS SOOOOO MUCH BEING SAID NOW THAT ROCHELLE TONEY IS THE LAST STANDING CANDIDATE FOR THE JOB. EVERYONE IS IN AN UPROAR ABOUT HER GETTING A BOND. LETS ASK THE QUESTIONS ABOUT WHY THE CITY IS TAKING MONEY FROM ITS RETIREES BY MAKING THEM PAY MORE FOR THIER BENEFITS THROUGH HUMANNA HEALTH CARE, LETS ASK THE QUESTION WHY THE CITY OWES A $20,000,000,000.00 BOND FOR THE PRESIDENT STREET PROJECT AND BECAUSE THE ECONOMY FLOPPED THE PRIVATE INVESTORS PULLED OUT AND WAS NOT REQUIRED TO INSURE THAT THE CITY WOULD NOT LOOSE OUT IF THEY PULLED OUT. LETS ASK THE QUESTION WHY THE CITY IS PAYING AT LEAST 25 PRIVATE CONSULTANTS FOR GOD KNOWS WHAT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS( I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHO THOSE CONSULTANTS ARE) ANYONE WITH THAT INFORMATION PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND GUESS WHAT THIS WAS ALL DONE UNDER MICHAEL BROWNS WATCH, YA'LL!!!! AND EVERYONE IS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE WOMAN GETTING A BOND AND WHY INFORMATION WAS LEAKED OUT ABOUT HER GETTING A MILLION DOLLAR BOND. I WONDER HOW MANY OF THE NAYSAYERS ON THIS TOPIC CAN GET A MILLION DOLLAR BOND? I GUESS MICHAEL BROWN DID IT AFTER HE HAD BEEN IN OFFICE AFTER MAYBE ONE OR TWO YEARS I BEG TO DIFFER! AFTER 15 YEARS OF BEING THE CITY MANAGER YOU SHOULD HAVE A-1 CREDIT AND BE ABLE TO AFFORD A 2 MILLION DOLLAR BOND IF NEED BE. IT IS IRONIC THAT HE DECIDED TO LEAVE THE CITY AFTER THE ECONOMY FLOPPED, VERY INTERESTING.

But then, I've made a point of not borrowing more than I can afford to re-pay in a timely manner. I've made a point of making sure that my mortgage and utilities and any other bills I might have are paid for before the frivolities of life... like my new (to me) car, or mani- and pedicures.

When a month is lean, I pay bills FIRST, then grocery shop according to my (*gasp*) budget. Some months we eat more beans and rice than we'd like to.

I don't see a credit card and think, "Yay! Free stuff!" I see a credit card and think, "Can I afford to pay this off within the next 1-2 months if I buy something with it?" If the answer is "no" I don't freaking buy it.

Those are the sorts of reasons American Express keeps trying to give me their cards. Wonder if RST gets offers from AE?? Hell, for that matter, I wonder if YOU do?

LET'S GET OVER IT! START ASKING THE REAL QUESTIONS AND START PLACING THE REAL BLAME PEOPLE. WHO ARE THE 25 CONSULTANTS THAT THE CITY IS STILL PAYING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TOO? UNDER MICHAEL BROWN'S WATCH. WHY ARE CITY OF SAVANNAH RETIREES REQUIRED TO PAY SO MUCH MORE TO HUMANNA HEALTH CARE? WHY DID MICHAEL BROWN JUMP SHIP WHEN THE ECONOMY FLOPPED? HUMMMMMM GO FIGURE. I AM SOOO GLAD @ MS NOMER THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR FINANCES, I AM HAPPY THAT YOU CAN JOIN THE RANKS OF PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF. I FEEL THE SAME WAY YOU DO THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT I DON'T BORROW @ ALL. IF I SEE IT I SAVE UP FOR IT IN 1-2MONTHS AND BUY IT OUT RIGHT CASH OR HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES ME TO GET WHAT I MAY CHOOSE TO PURCHASE. I AGREE BEANS AND RICE ESPECIALLY BROWN RICE IS VERY FILLING AND TASTY AND EXTREMLY HEALTHY FOR YOU, I RATHER EAT THAT THAN STEAK OR CHICKEN. THE POINT THAT I AM MAKING IS LET'S ASK THE REAL QUESTIONS!!!!!

only supposed to answer to the City Manager and County Manager. Russ Abolt needs to be questioned as to how he feels about his employee misusing resourses to fund a private witch hunt. It does not seem appropriate for internal affairs to be investigating civilians. If there are civilian concerns who is there to investigate them?

The point is that in order to be bonded, you need good credit. Or at the very least no bad credit.

As a result of using credit wisely, I have "good credit". As a result of not using credit at all, you have "no bad credit".

Since RST couldn't be bonded, that tells us that she has bad credit.
Which is a result of using credit unwisely. Which is a VERY pertinent issue when you are placing someone in a position of handling large sums of money.

By not being bonded she has shown that she is incapable of balancing a much smaller budget (her own) and is therefore untrustworthy to balance a much larger and public budget.

I like the consultants question -who are they and who are they related to ? In answer to who investigates city employees not police/fire -the personnel department investigates violations of policy and takes appropriate action or if the personnel director acts up - I guess it is their supervisor , who is Ms.Toney -Small ? Also what is Mr. Abolt's reply to county personnel being used for a highly illegal investigation into a non-criminal matter. I believe the correct manner could have been the DA's office would take it to the grand jury and let their investigators question the people involved but I am over my head here. I really don't know .

Why did Savannah vote for Otis Johnson? He is such a loser. Why not someone like Willie Brown, former Mayor of San Francisco? He happens to be black, but that's not why he was voted to be Mayor. It was because he had a great personality, was intelligent, reached out to everybody. I doubt he knew what color he was, because he was too busy to care. He was born and raised in Texas. Or, why not someone like the Mayor of New York City? Mayor Bloomberg. (spelling? ) Razzle, Dazzle, Fun, Intelligent, a Cosmopolite - like Willie Brown. Why does Savannah have Otis? He's a cross between Ghandi, Eldridge Cleaver, and a disgruntled computer technician - all humorless. One thing I always thought Southerners had going for them was style, and a sense of humor. He has neither. Where did he come from?

Like it or not, the Otis Five can vote with impunity for RST to be the next city manager. Why? Because the entire city council unanimously voted to advance her as one of the two finalists. Thomas and Felser can protest all they want about process, but they declared her to be qualified. Not the best qualified but qualified nonetheless. You can make all the accusations of racism run amuck as you want, but it doesn't matter thanks to Felser, Thomas, Stuber and Sprague's endorsement of RST.

What today's story was really about was the possible violation of city ordinance regarding non-interference with city employees. If any member of city council ordered the Police Chief to investigate, then they broke the law and the City Attorney needs to act in accordance with his legal responsibilities.

Again, the man is out to lunch! Isn't a primary function of the City's Attorney to keep the Mayor, Council and City government operating within the law--and out of the front pages of the paper? Who did order Chief Lovett to conduct preliminary internal investigations of the 'leak' (again, thank you to whoever leaked RST's bonding issue), the Mayor, one or more Alderman or RST herself? It's Blackburn's duty to step in when such stupidity gets discussed and say "No--bad idea!" But....apparently not the case. The longer this CM debacle goes on, the more inept the City Attorney looks.

WHY ARE YOU SO STUCK ON THE BONDING ISSUE? IS THAT ALL YOU CAN TALK ABOUT WHERE ROCHELLE TONEY IS CONCERNED? THE POINT IS SHE GOT THE $50,000.00 BOND THAT WAS REQUIRED. GET OVER IT!! MICHAEL BROWN OBVIOUSLY THOUGHT HIGHLY OF HER SINCE SHE WAS HIS ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER. CERTAIN FOLK IN THIS TOWN YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE (MS NOMA) JUST SCARED THAT THEY ARE LOSING THIER POWER BASE. THE TABLES ARE TURNING AND NOW YOU ALL CAN'T HANDLE IT!!!!!! AND AS FOR CREDIT IT SOUNDS TO ME THAT YOU ARE LIVING PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK,YOU MIGHT NEED TO GET ANOTHER JOB, SWEETIE!!!!!!!

You said, "MICHAEL BROWN OBVIOUSLY THOUGHT HIGHLY OF HER SINCE SHE WAS HIS ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER". More like Otis thought so highly of her, he insisted Michael Brown make her the Assistant City Manager. Isn't that more obvious?

You really should take that caps lock off. Have you just started using a computer?

It seemes to me that if you do not belong to the NFBPA You will not get hired. Cheif Lovett belongs but he is one who worked his way up through the ranks and deserved the job (and he is doing a good job). The rest including the mayor and Small Tony I cannot say this about. Something is hiding in the bushes.
I have White friends, Latino friends, and black friends. But some questions I would like answered.
I am white can I join the NFBPA?
Can My white children receive funds for college from the negro college fund?
Can my Daughter inter in the Black MS U.S.A. Pagett?
Can the Whites have NFWPA?
Can whites have white college fund ?
Can Whites have a WHITE MS U.S.A. Pagett?
Talk about being equal, I think not Seems onesided to me.
Talk about wanting your cake and eating it to.

We all have our "bad" days, and sometimes we gotta shake out more cobwebs than usual. I exercised my right to drink Maker's Mark yesterday just to prove to myself that if I wanna drink on Sunday, I will. Maybe that was what happened with mrsb. Maybe, they forgot when to say when, and this morning forgot to turn on their brain before they turned on their computer. Happens to the best of us, so chill.

Also, today is Monday, and we got 4 more days this week to bash King Otis. Save a a little bit to get through the week. Ahhh, Otis, the Marion Barry of Savannah.

I don't think Bell filed charges for racial discrimination, I think it was age discrimination. Bell is also an NFBPA member. As is our District Attorney, Larry Chisolm, who should be investigating and sorting this mess out. Conflict of interest? I'd like to know who he reports to.